New Scooter Regulations Coming At Atlanta City Council Meeting

ATLANTA —Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms plans to introduce new scooter regulations at next Monday's city council meeting in the wake of two deaths involving scooter riders. Bottoms recently placed a moratorium on new scooter permits in the wake of the fatalities, and one leading scooter provider hopes the city will take the opportunity to thoroughly consider all of the aspects of what has become a globally popular transportation alternative.

"We hope the city will implement a competitive selection process when permitting vendors to operate in Atlanta," said Nima Daivari, Lime's Georgia community affairs manager. "There are only a limited number of providers who have sufficient fleets, personnel and infrastructure to provide users and governments with good service."

Daivari also advocates only allowing scooters with speedometers on city streets and only scooters that are heavy-duty enough to handle the city's infrastructure. He also said Lime has a fully dedicated staff that can respond quickly to reports of misparked scooters, and there is no need for city public works personnel to be used for that purpose.

While more cities grapple with how to regulate and permit the use of the increasingly popular transit alternative, Daivari said its important for Lime to continue its extensive community outreach programs.

"Every two weeks, we give an opportunity for someone to learn to use a Lime product," he said. "We're seeing massive additions for alternative transportation, and scooters are a part of that solution. We need to collaborate on how to address these real issues, issues like transportation deserts, vehicle emissions and wear and tear on our cities' infrastructure."

Bottoms' executive action will not affect companies with existing permits, but Bottoms plans introduce legislation at the August 5 Atlanta City Council meeting to address public safety and other concerns.

Bottoms' actions come after two people were killed within the span of about a month in e-scooter accidents. One person was killed while leaving an Atlanta United MLS match, while another was struck by a transit bus in Midtown.

"Across the nation, municipalities are dealing with the sudden and unforeseen impact these devices have had on our communities," Bottoms said. "While some municipalities have banned the devices altogether, the city of Atlanta acted in good faith to work with the private sector to explore innovative solutions to ease existing commuting strains. However, as Atlanta has seen two scooter related deaths, this complex issue requires a more thorough and robust dialogue."

Bottoms' order will remain in effect through the August 5 city council meeting.

Last month, the city of Alpharetta banned the increasingly popular dockless scooters, citing safety and the possibility of the devices creating a nuisance. City aministrator James Drinkard said local governments across the country are experiencing the increased integration of new technology platforms into their transportation systems.

Many of the major dockless scooter companies, including Lime and Bird, have a motive of introducing shareable dockless mobility devices into communities to simply place a large volume of them in a community without notice, betting that riders will encourage elected officials to change city infrastructure and enact regulations to ensure the devices become an essential part of transportation, Drinkard said.

"In every city on which the scooters have descended, city officials have been barraged with complaints about abandoned scooters in sidewalks, accidents, and 'near misses' with helmet-less riders on busy streets," he said.

As reported by media outlets earlier this year, Grady Memorial Hospital estimated it receives between 80 and 100 scooter-related injuries per month, ranging from serious head injuries to broken limbs, Drinkard said. Around the nation, it's estimated there have been at least 1,500 injuries related to the scooters since 2017, according to a Consumer Reports magazine study published in February, he said. The magazine also found at least four scooter related fatalities were confirmed nationally. Data was compiled by the magazine after contacting 110 hospitals in 47 cities where the two biggest scooter companies, Bird and Lime, operate.

In April, the City of Woodstock considered a similar ordinance after a Woodstock man died in California after he was involved in a scooter crash in March.

Patch Editor Kathleen Sturgeon contributed to this report.